AUBURN, Wash. (August 8) – Jockey Gallyn Mitchell is scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a severe fracture in his right hand.

Emerald Downs’ all-time leader in virtually every riding category sustained the injury Sunday as the horses were loading in the gate for the $50,000 Angie C Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Mitchell’s mount, Blueberry Smoothie, reared up, tossed the jockey to the ground, and then stepped on his hand in the ensuing scramble.

“She kicked him like a soccer ball, he’s got bruises all over his body,” said Denise Mitchell, wife and agent of Gallyn Mitchell. “The bone below the thumb is completely in two. They don’t know whether they’re going to use pins, plates or screws.”

According to Denise Mitchell, if a cast is necessary a typical recuperation period would be about eight weeks, but she said Gallyn is having none of that talk. “He’s tough, he always wants to ride,” she said.

Mitchell is No. 1 all-time in Emerald Downs wins, 1,347, stakes wins, 76, and earnings, $13,847,850. He ranks 10th with 25 wins at the 2012 meet, and is in jeopardy of not finishing among the top five riders for the first time in the track’s 17-year history.

Blueberry Smoothie, with Leslie Mawing substituting, finished second to stable mate Goin to the Window in the Angie C.